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(photo by Connor MacKenzie)
Breaking the Barrier ventures into the rural mountains of Costa Rica!
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A New Year is Here!
A New Year begins! 2012. A chance to start with a clean slate. Make good on some old resolutions. At Breaking the Barrier, we have some great new things to offer you as the year begins. More than anything, we want to continue to be your partner in sharing the very best ideas for teaching Spanish and French (or any other language!). We are committed to making our texts, audios, tests, on-line exercises, and teaching tips the very best you will find. We hope that you, in turn, can help us by recommending our program to your friends. Sign them up for our newsletter so that we can show them how to Break the Barrier! Here's what we have in store in this issue:
- An "Ideal Lesson Plan" offering, written by Barbara Peterson, sharing her tried and true advice for anyone wanting to learn a new language.
- A Spanish cultural article You will love this offering about the incredibly talented Colombian photographer Francisco Carranza. It comes complete with comprehension questions and answers along with an audio recorded by an actor who hails from Bogotá.
- A French cultural article Tennis, anyone? It's an ace! Head with us to Roland Garros in France, home of one of the most storied professional tournaments on earth.
- A Costa Rican Adventure Follow the path to fluency to Central America, where Staff Writer Connor MacKenzie shares his experiences on an organic farm in a small Costa Rican village.
- We are still on Facebook! 'Like' us and share us with your friends!
- A timely grammar article, written for Think Spanish, revealing a useful trick for perfect tenses (Ho-Ho-Ho!) as well as some things to know about the very cool word "Ojalá"
- A pictorial update of our amazing conference in Denver last November,It was an ACTFL for the ages, as overflow crowds cued up for John Conner's IDEAL LESSON PLAN workshop and Fanny Viacava and Manuel Ñiquen's breathtaking dance performance.
- 2012 Conference Schedule Come see us and hear about our innovative approach to language learning
- Our latest news on electronic books Patience is, indeed, a virtue.
May your New Year begin with excitement and joy!
John Conner, Cindy Beams & staff writer Connor MacKenzie |
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The Ideal Lesson Plan:
Great ideas for learning Spanish and French!
An inspiring offering from our contributing editor, Barbara Peterson
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(photo by Cindy Beams)
John Conner at his Ideal Lesson Plan workshop
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Barbara Peterson in Hawaii!
For nearly a decade, Barbara Peterson has been the indefatigable face ofBreaking the Barrier at conferences throughout the country. She has exhibited for us from Florida to Alaska, from Hawaii to Washington, D.C. and almost everywhere in between.
In this very special article, Barbara shares her sage advice on how a person - young or old - can best master a new language. Enjoy!
Great Ideas for Learning Spanish and French
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Francisco Carranza
Entering the world of one of Colombia's great photographers
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| Carranza's "Madrugadora" (Early Riser) |
It has been said that "a picture is worth a thousand words." I have seen myself how beautiful photographs have enhanced articles we have written for publication. How fitting, then, that we highlight a terrific article this month that was first published in Think Spanish magazine. Its subject is Francisco Carranza, a Colombian photographer whose amazing eye has helped to bring to life the people and landscapes of his native country. The accompanying audio transciption of the article, recorded last summer by the talented Colombian actor Iván Calderón, along with comprehension questions and answers will make for a great classroom activity. Perhaps your students will be inspired and take some pictures themselves to share in class.
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| Roland Garros
Tennis, anyone? Visit the site of one of the world's great tournaments
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The red clay of Roland Garros
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I've always been a tennis fan. I played on my college tennis team, and I continue to coach the boys varsity squad at Groton. It makes for a great day: Spanish classes in the morning and tennis in the afternoon.
The accompanying article about Roland Garros, the site of the French Open, invites you to the setting for one of the Grand Slam tournaments. The slower pace of the clay rewards the fittest players and those able to hit well-placed groundstrokes.
This article and accompanying questions and answers were recorded last spring in Europe with native French speakers.
"Heading to Costa Rica"
A Breaking the Barrier student recounts his adventures abroad
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| Staff Writer Connor MacKenzie in rural Costa Rica |
Last summer, Breaking the Barrier Junior Associate Connor MacKenzie traveled to Costa Rica, spending weeks working on an organic farm in the rural mountains south of San José. The ability to communicate in Spanish, rooted in the BTB series, acted as the impetus for his wonderful experiences. Join us as he reflects on his adventures in Central America.
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BTB is still on Facebook
Breaking into the virtual world!
Well, we are slowly getting more Likes on Facebook. Though we are not quite up to the daily visits of Lady Gaga or Cristiano Ronaldo's Facebook pages, we are slowly, but surely, expanding our wings on social networking. We already have over 125 'Likes', and will likely break the "200" barrier in the coming months. Join in on the fun!
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Breaking the Barrier takes ACTFL by storm
Denver was the site of our biggest and best conference ever!
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photo by Cindy Beams
BTB and 'La Marinera' at ACTFL Denver
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Our intrepid team of five (John Conner, Cindy Beams, Barbara Peterson, Fanny Viacava and Manuel Ñiquen) descended on Denver, Colorado in late November for a conference that we can best describe as transformational. Perhaps it was the mountain air or the incredible warmth of the local Coloradans, but we just couldn't believe how many folks wanted to hear about our approach to learning language.
BTB co-founder Cindy Beams captured incredible photographs for us at this conference, which we have included in the pictorial essay below. Just click below. We think you will be amazed.
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"Ho-Ho-Ho": A useful trick for all perfect tenses plus
"Ojalá": A look at a very cool word
A timely article from the archives of Think Spanish!
Students of Spanish often forget that when past participles are used in any of the perfect tenses that they are pure verb. The following article makes use of one of winter's most endearing characters for a little linguistic trick to be sure you always have it right!
As a little bonus, Señor Conner addresses the often-used term "Ojalá."
A little quiz at the end will make this article most useful to you as you start 2012.
Perfect Tenses (Ho-Ho-Ho) and Ojalá
Think Spanish magazine
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Breaking the Barrier's Conference Schedule
Come see us!
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| Breaking the Barrier at ACTFL last November in Denver (photo by Cindy Beams) |
We are a tiny company, yet one with a big heart, and one with a big reach. We feel nothing is more important than heading out across the country to share our materials with conference goers. Though there are bigger companies out there, we hope that you agree that our commitment to you and our texts are as good as it gets.
We will be exhibiting at many conferences this coming year with the countdown to ACTFL, which will be in Philadelphia in November. Please come by our booth at one of the conferences listed below. We would love to shake your hand and have you take a look at our materials.
2012 Conference Schedule
An electronic book?
Well, like fine wine, it can't be hurried.
No one could accuse Breaking the Barrier of being way ahead of the curve in offering an electronic version of our texts. Yet, we believe that we will be rewarded for doing it right. We have found new wizards of high tech who are readying our six textbooks for electronic launch in time for the summer sales season. We will offer details in the spring newsletter. Stay tuned.
An announcement for homeschoolers and self-learners
We heard you, and have made a little change
Homeschool families and self-learners have shared their frustration at not being able to order our testing program on-line when they order a self-learner package. We have now changed all that! Click below to our order form, which now sports an option to purchase a Self-Learner Package with testing for all six of our titles!
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(photo by Iván Calderón)
Will you join us on the path to total fluency?
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It's time to stock up for the New Year.
Order Today!
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